


Pandora's Box

by dracoglacies



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/F, Nightmares, Post XV, Swearing, XV Spoilers, tags will be added along the way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:01:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27615266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracoglacies/pseuds/dracoglacies
Summary: Peace was finally in their hands, the normal days they wished for.But fanatical forces were moving in the shadows, threatening the fragile peace- and proving that even the world's heroes have their breaking point.
Relationships: Kohinata Miku/Tachibana Hibiki
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well uh... For starters, I have to give thanks for solopy567, ObssesedNuker and Shemmy for their help in this fanfic. Without them I don't think this fic will be half as good.
> 
> And then please give me feedback! I love hearing what you all think, and if there's anything I need to improve, I'll be more than happy to listen!
> 
> Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy it!

“So they have defeated the Custodian.”

Calmness filled the Leader’s tone, and she sat straighter as she heard his words. It didn’t matter he couldn’t see her through their voice-only connection, she still tried her best to be serious in these meetings. Although his words… Her heart still clenched as she remembered what happened back then. How Yggdrasil crumbled all over the world and brought their hopes down with it.

A snarl came out of her speakers, his hand slamming loudly against the desk that even his mic picked up upon it. “This is blasphemy! If we let them go then we are just inviting disaster. We’ll show them what we can do-”

“Calm down Scales.” Leader brought his voice down, fast as a whip. That immediately pushed Scales into silence. “I understand what you feel… but we need to look further than what just happened. We have to look into the _meaning_ of this. That humans managed to triumph over a Custodian.”

“Humans? No, I respect you, Leader but I won’t accept this at all. No humans can win over the Custodian- or are your words merely a lie?” If he was in front of them, she had a feeling he would have leaned forward aggressively, baring his teeth as he looked straight to the calm Leader. He never seemed to get angry, no matter what was thrown at him. Shivers went down her spine at the thought that a flash of anger might sprout within him-

But she shouldn’t have worried. “Then… isn’t the answer simple?” He replied, fully relaxed as he spoke towards Scales gently. As if the man hadn’t just thrown baseless accusations at him. “If no humans can do it… that means the answer is in fact very simple. They are Custodians themselves. Thrown into this world to realize back their power…”

“All the data shows them to be humans though, they had been checked every time they finished another mission after all.” She finally murmured, cutting into their talk. She wished what the Leader just said to be true, but she couldn’t help to speak up just now even if it was undercutting his leadership.

Instead of berating her, Leader’s next words sent her heart beating even faster. Not from fear of what would happen next. Excitement and worry mingling together as she leaned closer to the speakers eagerly, wanting to listen as clearly as possible.

“That might be true, but with what we know... There’s no question on what we have to do next. We have to help them realize their _true destiny_.”

* * *

“Ma’am, I hope you don’t mind us asking but… have there been any problems happening within the last few months?” That was the timeframe they had considering the documents they had found. “Just before Yggdrasil sprouted up?”

“No, we had no problems other than that. Although…” The old woman paused, her brows furrowed while hesitating to say the next words. “We had a lot of new visitors suddenly, just a few days ago, I think. They don’t look like researchers, so with how they went to the forest... it’s likely they are more interested in all of that nefarious business with that leftover Yggdrasil shaft. I wish the local government would do something about it already, but none of them are willing to do anything. Pah, the politicians are always useless for important stuff...”

They all looked at each other, looks of concern and worry passed between them silently. But before the old woman could speak again, growing worried at the group's sudden stillness, Maria cut her off with a smile and a slight bow. “Thank you for the information, madam. I hope you have a good day.”

“Ah… I hope that’s good enough for you youngsters. Now enjoy our city, alright? We might not have much, but this is still a nice place.”

“Yes and once again, thanks ma’am!” Hibiki immediately said, waving at her as the woman slowly walked away with a small smile upon her face.

When she was finally far away enough though, all seven of them immediately huddled a little closer, whispering so no one else could hear. “Alright, any of you feeling suspicious about all this?” Chris immediately voiced the thoughts all of them had, her brows furrowed. “There has to be something _wrong_ , especially when we know how nationalistic he is. That timeline also doesn’t sound right-”

“There is a lead, and we have to check it out, Yukine.” Tsubasa’s voice was tight, and they could see how tense the idol’s face was. Not like any of them could blame her, the whole mission was the result of a lead in one of the documents confiscated from the Kazanari Foundation. In fact, Hibiki wasn’t sure if Tsubasa had changed her expression once since they were informed a few days ago. “I’ll go by myself alone if I must. That’s my duty.”

“Goddammit, Senpai. I’m not saying that-Fine. But if you dare go there alone I’ll drag you back here kicking and screaming.” A growl came out of Chris before she just deflated and sighed. “I’ll help.”

“Yeah, don’t push us out before we even started this thing, dess!” Kirika grinned, her cheerful tone dispelling the darker atmosphere that had prowled into the group. “Oh, maybe we should split up to cover more areas? That way we’ll be able to check out more right?”

Hibiki immediately grabbed Miku’s hand the moment she heard that. “Then I’ll be with Miku! We work best together anyway!”

“H-Hibiki…” Redness covered her sunshine’s cheeks and Hibiki grinned wider, squeezing the hand a little tighter. Half of it was because Miku was her sunshine, but at the same time, Hibiki had noticed her being a little too silent. So this should let them have some privacy and give Miku the chance to talk if she was willing to.

The rest of them split up easily soon after, with Maria sticking close to both Kirika and Shirabe, while Tsubasa and Chris both ended up in a team.

* * *

It had been a few hours since they had gone into the forest, and while Hibiki and Miku did talk it wasn’t about what Hibiki wanted to talk about. They merely made small talk about the weather. Particularly how hot and humid this place was... Borneo, if Hibiki remembered correctly. The animals and insects too were a topic of interest at one point, but as the sun rose higher without any of them finding anything, Hibiki clenched her fists and made a decision.

“Okay Miku, I know you have been deep in thought for a while now… but… would you please tell me what’s wrong, okay?” Hibiki softly whispered, and Miku tensed. The knot of worry within her stomach grew bigger as Miku didn’t answer, instead glancing away as she kept walking, hiding her face. Physically, the distance had not changed at all, but it felt like Hibiki’s inquiry had opened a yawning chasm between them. In the end the silence lingered for a few moments more before Hibiki tried again, “Is it connected with your…” _nightmares_ , was what she wanted to say, but guilt choked the words. Because as heavy as Miku feelings were, Hibiki herself also put the very same yoke upon herself. If she had been better, had she been faster perhaps Miku wouldn’t be…

A smile spread upon her sunshine’s face when she finally looked back, the same as before, the one she always put on. Hibiki’s heart broke at that sight, even as happiness mixed in with it as well. “I’m okay, Hibiki. Don’t worry about me.” She had said that too, when she woke up in the middle of the night, screaming and holding onto her tightly.

There never was anything else Hibiki could do then, except just hold her sunshine back and slowly try to calm her down. On good days, that meant Hibiki would make a cup of hot chocolate for them to share together and huddle under a blanket as the mug gave another point for Miku to anchor herself in the present. All the while her body would be heated by the warmth of both Hibiki's body and blanket. She didn't like the bad days. Where Miku shuttered herself in, pushing everyone else out and only ever so slightly allowed Hibiki to peek into herself...

But what could Hibiki say right now? Nothing, except a smile back, one that said she accepted the lie. She felt like she was stuck in a mire, unable to get out of this rut they were in. “I’ll always listen to you, Miku. No matter what.” She finally murmured that, hoping that this last-ditch reassurance would be the one that-

_“We have detected Alca-Noise patterns near Tsubasa and Chris’s group! We’ll send the coordinates so send support to them at once!”_

All her previous thoughts immediately fled her mind, Hibiki's mind filing them away as something she had to do later. Looking into Miku’s determined face, they nodded at one another at once. No more need for words, they understood what they had to do. Determination burned brightly beneath Miku’s green eyes, ones that always took the breath away from her.

Right now wasn’t the time to bask in that glow though, and Hibiki let the holy chant fill the air around her just as Miku’s did. Light and power glowed from within them, strength expanding within their body from the core as their gears came to life and overlaid themselves over their body, putting various bits of metal and _power_ over their skin.

She breathed for a moment, savoring the power thrumming underneath as well as the coolness upon her body as her Gear seemed to protect her from the temperature and humidity. Then she leaped off the ground, trusting Miku would follow her as the two of them moved towards where the signals were coming from. It also helped that in their transformation, they could already hear the sounds of explosions and songs outputted by their friends.

“Let’s hurry, Miku!” Hibiki said, her feet finding easy purchase between the trees that towered in this region. Miku herself just flew with the flight module formed by Shenshoujing on her legs. The machine filled their surroundings with its hum, somehow a slight comfort after the constant background noise of animals.

It didn't take long for them to reach the place, and Hibiki's eyes widened as she saw the amount of enemies that just kept swarming out of... somewhere. That didn’t matter right now, she could figure that out later. Without even thinking about it, she let loose a yell to attract their attention. The Alca-Noise turned, their movements always so mechanical and with those squeaky sounds, but that didn’t matter. Pulling her pile bunkers back as far as she could, Hibiki plowed straight into the fray. Her fists slammed into those directly in her path, breaking and turning them to dust as she continued to move forward. As she landed, pile bunkers fired as well, sending a shockwave rippling outward that destroyed more enemies around her.

A momentary reprieve for the slightly overwhelmed group, and that allowed both Tsubasa and Chris to immediately take advantage of the distraction. Tsubasa immediately jumped forward, throwing down rain of swords upon another group while Chris merely grinned a little bit wider and pulled out her bigger arsenal. Rockets aimed and flew true towards the flying ones- destroying them and leaving any stragglers for Miku to beam down.

"Good job, Tachibana, Kohinata! Don't let your guards down- more enemies incoming!" Tsubasa shouted, turning around and brandished her sword towards the Alca-Noises that had formed swarms once more in front of their eyes.

Gritting her teeth, Hibiki prepared to jump back into the fray, and she could see Miku preparing her bigger attacks in the corner of her eyes.

But before the two of them could do it, the familiar tunes of Maria, Shirabe and Kirika could be heard. And before too long they could see it. Shirabe’s buzzsaws appeared first, handily destroyed a group of them before both Maria and Kirika moved forward- their whip-sword and scythe destroying Alca-Noise back into dust.

Now with all seven of them here, the battle situation completely changed. Trusting them to be able to handle anything that would come up, Hibiki paused her fight for a moment to scan for the source. Head moving here and there, just trying to see where they came from-

Her eyes widened as she spotted it. Maybe merely a few kilometers away, a grey trunk towered skyward. Her eyes took in the little details she could get from the distance, the bark a convoluted weave of biological matter and electrical lines that shined with an inner power. She knew what this was. Maybe they had defeated Shem-ha, and yet the marks she had left upon the world continued to scar earth. The leftovers of what was now called the Yggdrasil Incident. The very fact one of them was here was troublesome, especially with the amount of Alcha-Noises pouring out of it. She looked up, towards the top of the tree where they would have to go through to investigate what was within, why it hadn’t collapsed like the others…

"Thank you for the help, Tachibana." Tsubasa spoke, jarring her out of her thoughts. "This seems to be the place the old woman talked about." Tsubasa's brow furrowed as she looked up at the Yggdrasil branch, distress clear on her face. Then again, Hibiki was sure she wore the same expression on her own face.

Worry flared up within Hibiki as she immediately flicked her sight to the side, going straight towards Miku. Her sunshine said nothing as she stared at the tree, but tension riddled her body. Miku squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, breathing deeply before reopening them. The greens had darkened, her shoulders hunching together as if that would help protect herself from… something.

Hibiki had to stop her body from moving. The longing within her flickering so strong she could just jump forward and pull Miku tightly. To feel her sunshine against her again-

"Yo! We still got enemies coming out of the woodwork, so stop dawdling there all of you!" Chris snarled, punctuating her exclamation with a salvo of missiles. Hibiki’s ears rang at the ensuing explosions.

But her friend wasn't wrong. Hibiki breathed again and focused upon the battle, all of them moving and weaving around each other's attacks. These fights were always a careful balancing act: they had to not accidentally hit one another, and yet still strike with the force and fury necessary to wipe out the Alca-Noise.

Red dust piled up here and there, the Alca-Noise streaming forward like an endless river. Constantly pouring out, attacking without regards.

Gritting her teeth, Hibiki let the melodies and lyrics flow through her. Energy and power bounced between all of them, their phonic gain increasing. Those were always an exciting prospect, and yet… something felt different now. Hibiki couldn’t put her finger on it. Just that she felt more _connected_ with the energy they had gathered, warm and bursting within her chest, flowing into her bloodstream.

Yet more and more Alca-Noises still came forth, and a flicker of worry wormed its way into Hibiki’s thoughts. But as she sang, her ears listening to the others’ melody, she found it hard to dwell upon it. By all rights, they should be tired now. But Hibiki didn’t feel it. Actually, she probably felt _better_ than before. The more she let the music within her heart out, the easier she found herself moving. To just let the power speak through her.

In some ways, the burn reminded her of back in the past. When she first took up the holy chant and the embedded shards of Gungnir within her heart started to spread its way through her body, but this time it wasn't painful like that one. Instead it was… soothing, giving her a sense of warmth and welcome.

The moment no more enemies met her fists felt both too late and too soon. Hibiki forcefully halted her attack when she realized nothing more came out from the top of the trunk, from the hole that was still left open.

“Let’s go in.” Miku’s words rang clearly in the air, making Hibiki jerk and look at her as if she had grown a second head.

“M-Miku?! Are you sure? I… You… uhm…” Hibiki trailed off, unable to continue after seeing the determination that continued to smolder within those eyes. “Okay. I’ll always be behind you then. It shouldn’t be too hard to climb this.”

Or maybe they could try to get through the trunk… but considering it didn’t even look singed from any of Chris’s stray rounds that struck it, Hibiki figured that would be even harder.

“Maybe for you, but not all of us dammit.” Chris scowled while glancing at the ring around her waist.

* * *

Of course, in the end they all still did it. Miku had the easiest time between them all, what with the flight module letting her just fly straight to the top. She did try to help, but the machine immediately sputtered and was barely able to float the moment she picked up someone else. It might work if she was going down, but going up definitely needed more power than what they had right now.

“I see… something down there. A box?” Miku called out, tilting her head slightly in confusion at what she was seeing down there. The shaft they found was much shallower than the ones they had gone in before. She could see pretty much everything contained within right from the precipice. But besides the oddly innocuous looking box, there was nothing but the packed earth and the still pulsing Yggdrasil trunk. A slight shudder passed through her body at the latter, her self-loathing welling up at the reminder of her mistake. A reminder of how she...

Miku shook her head, that didn’t matter right now. Her attention focused on the more important oddity. That seemingly innocent chest. Squinting down, she could pick out symbols etched upon it, probably in some archaic, long-dead any language she never saw before. “I’ll check it out.” She murmured, her flight module once more whirring to life as she prepared to just float down.

Her communicator crackled at once, Genjuro’s voice coming out of it. _“Wait, Miku-kun. We are detecting something from that box… It seems its signal was originally hidden through all those Alca-Noises, but with them disposed of…”_ He didn’t explain further, he didn’t need to.

She understood and wished she could disobey, but Miku knew better than to be reckless. The result of her mistake in the past was right around her after all, suffocating her in its form and presence. Someone else should arrive up here soon, and yet a part of her itched to just-

“I am here, Kohinata.” Tsubasa’s voice startled Miku from her thoughts. Turning, Miku blinked in surprise as she found the bluenette already next to her. When did the idol come up behind her? No one else moved as fast as Tsubasa did, but so silently? Then again, the idol had been very driven to find out about everything, as if she was desperate to do something, anything against the man they found this information from. Tsubasa keyed her communicator. “Any more information, Uncle, Elfnein?”

Elfnein answered her quickly, a note of worry worming its way into her words, _“Sorry, Tsubasa-san. These readings aren’t exactly clear, but it definitely looks like a… Complete Relic. And an active one at that.”_

And merely moments later, Genjuro himself immediately told them what they should do, _“Be careful, everyone. Wait for the rest of the team in this situation, it is best you are ready to hit it with your full force if there are any surprises.”_

Miku groaned in frustration and Tsubasa’s shoulders slumped slightly at the prospect of more waiting, even though they knew the rest of their friends were not all that far behind. An awkward silence filled the air between them as they waited. It occurred to Miku that Tsubasa and her had not been alone together much for some time now, but always with some of the others. She shuffled a bit, glancing around nervously, wondering if she should say anything. But Tsubasa was the one that broke the ice.

“... I apologize, Kohinata. For not saying this much earlier as well as…” The idol bit her lower lip, tensing. “For what happened back then. I failed in my duty and you ended up paying the price.”

Miku stiffened, head swiveling to look towards Tsubasa in surprise, their eyes meeting. “You-”

“There’s no need to answer it for now.” Tsubasa quickly cut her off. “I have to atone for my sins.”

Miku frowned. _“And what about my sins?”_ She thought. _“You might be the one that brought me there but I was the one that...”_

But she couldn’t say that out loud. Not to the guilt she could see swirling within Tsubasa’s indigo eyes. So instead Miku merely nodded, not trusting her voice to betray her in this matter.

“... Are you two okay?” Maria’s voice was sudden, and the two of them nearly jumped at that. The coral-haired woman had managed to replicate Tsubasa’s feat and come up behind them without making a noise. Glancing beyond her, they spotted Kirika and Shirabe coming up over the edge of the trunk, the latter's attention entirely on assisting the former with her scythe.

“Everything’s fine, Maria-san.” Miku murmured, perhaps a bit too quickly if the way Maria narrowed her eyes were of any indication.

She was saved from further talk when Hibiki finally pulled herself up, her sun grinning and waving at her brightly. “Miku! Wait let me…” She turned around, and pretty much hefted Chris up without any warning, making the Ichaival-wielder redden. Luckily before Chris could do more, Hibiki put her down onto the Yggdrasil. “No need to thank me, Chris-chan!”

“I-I could have gotten up myself!” Chris growled out before just quickly moving over where the rest of the team was gathering. Peering down, a visor dropped down out of Chris’s headgear over her eyes, bringing the chest fully into focus. “There’s some… sort of symbols etched all around the box, but the gold’s painted over it and filling some of it in. Best I can tell, it doesn’t _look_ like an instruction manual.”

“Well then, talking about it doesn’t seem to be doing us any good! Now that we’re all here, let's just jump down and do something about it!” Hibiki pointed out, immediately jumping over the edge before any of her friends could reply. The drop took a few seconds, her boots cratering the ground when she landed with a ringing crunch. “Whew! that’s a bit farther than I thought, but…” Hibiki glanced around, inspecting the area carefully. Satisfied that no hidden threat had crawled out of the woodwork at her landing, she turned back to her friends and waved up to them,shouting. “Alright, it’s all clear! What are you waiting for guys?!”

Miku let out a sigh, both of relief, and a slight tiredness as her flight modules hummed to life again. At least going down would be easier for everyone else, since they could just drop down.

She floated down there, the group gathered around the wooden case, their armed gears held out carefully at the ready. True to Chris’ words, golden paint had covered parts of it, obscuring some of the symbols that had been carved all over it. It looked… far more mundane then any complete relic Miku could recall. And yet she couldn’t shake an apprehensive feeling creeping up her back about it. Without thinking about it, her hand sought Hibiki’s and held it tightly.

Something's wrong with it, and yet Miku noticed that nobody else seemed to feel it. They were on guard, yes. But she couldn’t pick out any signs of the raw anxiety she was feeling. "Miku, do you want to go back?" Hibiki whispered, concern appearing once more within her eyes.

She should stop making her worry like this. "No it's... I'm okay, Hibiki." Her smile might be a bit too fragile, if the way Hibiki immediately tightening her grip was any indication. "It's just this Relic isn't…" She couldn't finish her words, uncertain of what she was feeling the more she stayed close to it.

It stood in front of them, innocuous other than the shine of the gold paint and wood. Definitely looked new and not giving off its age. Certainly not something one would think of when they head the term Relic.

The fact there was nothing happening increased her discomfort further, hackles raising as she moved uncertainly, inching forward with the group. It looked harmless, and yet she just couldn't shake off her feelings.

Something was wrong.

This thing was _dangerous._

Her power formed easily beneath her palm, and Miku found herself breathing easier. Her lungs seemed to loosen as she moved her hand, about to unleash the power contained within...

"Miku!" Hibiki was shaking her. Miku had raised her fan from it’s at-the-ready position and taken aim, poised to attack the box and she didn't even remember doing it.

"I'm-I'm sorry." She managed, slowly lowering the fan again but not putting it away. She didn't feel comfortable yet. Instincts screamed at her to continue, but her thoughts were completely at odds with it.

Biting down her lip, Miku surveyed what the other ones in the group had done. Just to distract herself from the constant apprehension she felt swelling up within her. Hibiki had stayed close to her, but the way Hibiki’s eyes darted about… “It’s okay, I’ll just stay here.” She whispered out, and gently squeezed Hibiki’s hand when her sun gave her another worried look. She didn’t like it, but she also didn’t want to force Hibiki to stay.

“I’ll come back soon then, Miku.” Hibiki smiled, kissing her cheek briefly that warmed her heart before she turned around and joined the rest.

They had gone far, far closer than Miku would have liked but she doubted they would appreciate her just vaporizing the Relic with a well-placed attack. So she had no choice but to stare uncertainly, the chest not doing anything no matter how close everyone had been.

“With how close we’ve come to it without it doing anything, maybe we need to reassess our position.” Maria spoke up, breaking the silence that had grown uncomfortably between them all. “Perhaps…” She trailed off, furrowing her brow, unsure to say her next words.

But before Maria could decide one way or another, Kirika had excitedly spoke up, “What she wanted to say was- maybe we should open the box! After all, it’s a box, so it has to keep something _inside_ , right?”

“Oh, oh, that’s a good idea, Kirika-chan!” Hibiki joined at once, throwing her support behind that suggestion.

Shirabe meanwhile could only let out a soft sigh, “Kiri-chan, Maria was uncertain over that course of action, you know…”

“W-whoops…?” Kirika scratched the side of her cheeks slightly. “B-but even Hibiki-san thinks it’s a good idea!”

“That dummy thinks too many things are a good idea.” Chris spoke in, massaging the middle of her brows while continuing her words, “We should call headquarters first before deciding anything.”

The group immediately quietened down as Chris’ communicator connected, the Ichaival-wielder immediately explaining what had happened so far, “-and that’s how it is. How is it going over there?”

Elfnein’s voice went through everyone's, _“I have checked over and over, but the readings continued to stay unclear.”_ Sounds of typing could be heard for a moment before Elfneien continued, _“But I can say that they aren’t moving erratically and seem to stay stable, so going closer doesn’t seem to trigger or activate anything.”_

They all looked at each other once more, the mystery concerning the box seemingly deepening. “Right, thanks for that info, Shrimp.” Chris answered, eyes watching the case carefully for a moment before she talked a bit more. “We are planning to open the box-”

 _“That’s being too rash, Chris-kun.”_ Genjuro immediately cut her off. _“This is still a Relic, and active one at that.”_

All of them flinched slightly at the harsh tone, each of them not liking that they had caused that scolding, especially considering it came from someone they respected.

“Uncle, we aren’t going to do it without a plan.” Tsubasa said, breathing deeply to calm herself down before saying what she thought could convince him. “Besides, we need to consider every avenue especially considering this is a Complete Relic after all. If something happened… it’s better if it’s here.” Within the Yggdrasil, far away from the nearest spot of civilization.

“What she said, Master! We’ll be careful too and with everyone here… it’s all right, everything’s just fine! Believe in us.” Hibiki joined in, trying to help Tsubasa in her own way.

“I think what Tsubasa had said has merit, I hope you’ll give us permission for it, Commander.” Maria herself added in. “We certainly will be careful.”

The rest of them said their agreement as well, although Miku found herself choking slightly when she said it. She wasn’t sure if that was why the communicator was silent for a while after that, but she knew that Genjuro was thinking deeply of what they had proposed. No matter what anyone said, the Commander was someone that definitely found his pride in taking care of people under his wings.

 _“... Permission granted. BUT. You all better be careful about it, alright?”_ Genjuro’s still sounded reluctant over the communicator- but in the end, he still had given them the go ahead.

They all immediately gave their affirmation, before standing around the box- a bit uncertain on what they could do. Miku herself was the only one that was still the furthest away, while everyone else was close to the box.

"Alright everyone. We don’t know what this Relic will do, so let’s position ourselves-” Tsubasa started, pulling everyone’s attention towards her. “Yukine and Kohinata, stay back but make sure you have clear shots. Maria, Akatsuki, and Tsukuyomi, be ready to bind or hold out anything that might come out of this box. Tachibana and I will be at the front, opening the box and ready for whatever it might be.”

That meant Hibiki would also be at the most dangerous position. This was the rare moment where she wished she could just take her place, but cooler heads prevailed- especially since no one disagreed. Miku swallowed down her protest and moved to her position, floating upwards so she would have a clear shot if anything dared to hurt Hibiki.

On the corner of her eyes, Chris moved to the corner, pressing her back to the trunk as she prepared her revolvers. A grin spread across her face as she put herself in position.

Shirabe and Kirika seemed to stick close to one another, hovering a bit afar from Hibiki and Tsubasa with their scythe and sawblades ready to attack. While Maria kept to herself, her swords were hovering all around her.

The last group stood close to the box, Hibiki putting herself on a stance while Tsubasa gripped her sword. The two of them looked at one another, nodding before Hibiki leaned forward, her fists blurring with how fast she moved, pushing the top sideways to open it before quickly drawing back.

Miku found herself holding her breath as she watched closely, her hand trembling as she aimed forward.

The top creaked open.

Her chest tightened painfully. All of them tensing of what would happen next.

A beat.

Two beats.

Nothing came out.

Relief immediately passed through Miku’s body as she breathed out, tension easing from her body as she did so.

"That's… it? Nothing?" Kirika gave voice to what they were all thinking. 

At once, Elfnein’s voice came through their communicators, the worry even more acute. _"Are you all okay? We detected a surge in the relic’s energy signature for a moment then it all just vanished."_

"Nothing happened over here, Uncle. The box is empty. What should we do next?" Tsubasa didn't seem happy, but then again she hadn't been ever since the start of this whole mission.

 _“Tch.”_ Genjuro’s voice came out before he reluctantly gave his next order. _"I don't like that it seemed to not give any indication but… bring it back to the headquarters. Active or not, we can't leave a complete relic alone and unguarded."_

A part of her pondered slightly over her past thoughts before she just dismissed it away- she was probably just anxious over her first mission. Even if it was together with the other Gears, they had more experiences than her. She joined them as they started to pick up the box, knowing that she should help since they needed to climb up once more.

But as they touched the box again, none noticed the flicker of darkness that momentarily swept over them.


	2. Chapter 2

“Why are you the only one alive?”

Noise filled her ears. Not merely any sounds either. Ones that scratched her eardrums, screeching their words upon her and hurling things that stabbed and pierced her chest.

“You should have died instead.”

This was fine. Everything’s fine.

She could face this.

Shakily, Hibiki stood her ground, trying to smile weakly upon the arrays of faces in front of her. They were scowling upon her, teeth bared in anger. She couldn’t see their eyes, but there wasn’t any need to. This was just more of the same.

“You make me sick, going around as if you are the ones that have the _right_ -”

Perhaps she had flinched, because the next moment they were laughing at her. Seeing her stricken face as if it was the funniest thing ever in their eyes. Maybe it was.

No. No.

This was wrong.

She had gone through this before. She refused to go through this again.

But before she could even let out words of her own, a hand shoved her. Her eyes widened as her body tripped backwards, the familiar white ceiling of her school forming in front of her eyes. The stairs were behind her. Her hand reached forward, as if wanting someone to grab it. To prevent what would happen next.

“Fall and _die_.”

The gaping maw of darkness swallowed her in a splash.

Hibiki drowned within it, gasping and seeing bubbles escaping her mouth. Her lungs constricted within her chest, pressing, tight and reminding her of her need for oxygen. Coldness seeped into her skin too, stabbing and freezing. Each moment sent panic all across her, plunging and forcing her deeper into the depths.

She had to get out of this. Turning her body upwards, she swam towards the light she could see. And yet, each struggle seemed to send the light further and further away, never getting any closer.

Her hands numbed, but it didn’t matter. She had to get out, to keep moving constantly and fighting against the currents that refused to let her out of their grasp. Her chest burned stronger, the _need_ for oxygen demanding her to move faster. She tried. She fought, and the light finally was there-

Air. Gasping and taking deep breaths, she blinked and shivered. The cold was worse outside of the water, and she blinked when she realized the school hallways no longer existed around her.

She knew where she was. Her body tensed, eyes wide as her breathing got rougher. She didn’t wish to be in this place anymore, she never wished to come back here, ever. 

Such a familiar street, with graffiti painted all across the wall, its color in contrast with the grey pavement below her. Those grey were the same as any other street, but the splotches of color, those nonsensical drawings could only mean one place.

Her mouth and throat dried as she walked forward, her feet heavy. Dread filled every part of her as she looked at how the road curved to the left.

_No. This can’t happen again._

But her feet continued to move underneath her. Forcing her to see what would happen next.

The broken purple phone appeared, with its cracked screen strewn on the road.

She didn’t want to see what would happen next. She had no choice but to do it, her eyes sliding and moving towards the side. A soft whimper came out of her mouth when she saw it, that familiar white bag, with its contents strewn about.

But all she could see was red.

That crimson color splattered all over the place, not just the bag and instead spreading so wide on the road. Everything, even the bag’s content.

Holding back the nausea that had formed within her stomach, Hibiki shakily walked backwards. She wished she could squeeze her eyes shut, to not see this anymore. But no matter how much she prayed, her wish wouldn’t come true. Her eyes stayed open, only able to stare forward, transfixed with what was happening. The blood bubbled, boiling without any source of heat.

The blood seemed to coagulate, tightly wounding itself with one another, and started to bulge upwards. Up and up but not too high. Similar height to her, if a bit shorter.

A claw squeezed her heart tightly as details slowly formed upon the blood… thing in front of her. The head flowed up, forming shoulder-length hair, a slight curl upon it, and darkened into black. Then the face appeared and Hibiki couldn’t breathe. She didn’t even look at the rest of the features- there was no need to. A certainty had settled all over her that this was her sunshine.

Miku.

She was the one who made her relax, whose mere presence could make her smile and just be happy. But the warmth that should be filling her body was exchanged with chills, even colder than the water she was in moments before.

Her feet started to move forward, her hand stretching forward because this was still Miku- and Shem-Ha appeared behind her sunshine. The red rings in her eyes staring eerily into her own golden eyes, and a smirk spread across Shem-Ha’s face. 

“She’s mine now.” 

The voice resounded loudly in this place, Shem-Ha’s hands embracing Miku. Touching and holding onto her tightly. Hibiki bristled, her mouth opening up and yet not a single sound escaped. She couldn’t scream, the voice stuck within her throat. “You are the one that let her go, sending her to me. Pushing her into such a condition that she’d rather wish to accept me than tell you those words.” Each of Shem-Ha’s words cut like a knife, leaving Hibiki only able to hope and pray for some refutation.

But the Miku within Shem-Ha’s hold didn’t say anything, the silence speaking louder than any words she could have said. Miku merely passively stared forward even as the two of them started to mingle and mix together, forming back into that form.

“LET HER GO!” She snarled, breaking her silence and charging. Stretching her hand forward, just to grasp Miku’s, but the distance between them never shortened. Just the same distance, keeping them separated no matter how hard she tried to move forward. “SHE IS MY SUNSHINE AND YOU DON’T GET TO KEEP HER!” She growled, forcing herself to continue.

To just grasp Miku’s hand.

Then everything would be fine.

Inch by inch her fingers started to reach forward, slowly but surely would reach Miku-

“You don’t have the power to grasp her.”

Thin cracks formed upon their faces, spreading, snaking across like spider’s webs. Skin shards peeled off, showing crimson expanse that wriggled and moved in all the wrong ways... Tendrils. Red ones that just grabbed, tearing off even more of their faces. Never once did they make a sound, nothing came out of their mouth. The only thing Hibiki could hear was the ripping of skin, an ugly wet sound that made her wish she could just rip her ears off.

She couldn’t do that. Her hands still went forward, desperate to grasp whatever was left of Miku... and they broke. The sound of cracking mirrors filled her ears, before they burst into an expanse of red that swallowed her whole.

Iron filled her mouth. Sticky, pulling, grasping and intent on drowning her. “No, MIKU!” She screamed, but the blood slipped into her, forcing and filling her everywhere until everything was just…

Red.

* * *

Tinges of crimson still filled her sight as Hibiki gasped awake, her chest heaving from effort as her hand grasped her blanket tightly. The metallic taste still stuck on her tongue, her heart beat so fast it probably could bounce out of her ribcage. Heaviness still tugged her stomach, nausea uncomfortably rising even as she looked up at the ceiling, or as much as she could within this dark room.

Maybe she needed to buy a nightlight. She shook her head a little at that thought, feeling the uncomfortable way her hairs stuck to her skin. Her shirt clung against her back too, no thanks to her sweating. So she probably should change now instead of later. Pushing her blanket, she was about to swing herself down when she heard it. 

“Hibiki…?” Miku’s voice was soft, and Hibiki froze in the middle of her movement.

Giving a faint smile to her sunshine, Hibiki shook her head slightly. “It’s nothing, Miku. Go back to sleep.” She murmured, her hand automatically running through Miku’s short hair. The motion calmed her down, but Miku’s green eyes looked clear and bore down into her own. As if Miku was stripping the lies she had spilled from her mouth. “... It’ll be okay.” She weakly managed to bite out, glancing away. Looking any longer would just make the guilt stabbed deeper.

Instead of replying, Miku instead slid down the ladder first, giving her a knowing smile before going to the kitchen. _Oh._ Understanding flowed through her, and Hibiki flushed slightly. Keeping Miku’s plan in her mind, she too got out of the bed and changed her sweaty clothes into fresh ones. That definitely helped to clear out some of the chill that clung onto her body. Even so, the dark thoughts continued to gnaw at the edge of her mind. Telling her that she needed to stop Miku from doing anything more and that Miku should just sleep. To let her stew within her own unrelenting mind.

The smell of sweet chocolate wafted out of the kitchen, and she had no choice but to swallow her words. Just like Miku wasn’t allowed to refuse, she also couldn’t. Not if she wanted Miku to keep accepting it when the nightmares came again. That was their promise, the only way Hibiki could make Miku accept the warmth.

Her hand trembled as she took the blanket from their bed, and put it next to her on the table. She was still reluctant to drape herself within it, her mind and heart kicking herself on being so weak that she wished for warmth. The cold she felt right now was a punishment, one she should accept.

“Hibiki.” 

Her sunshine’s voice. Calm, anchoring, and drew her back to the present. “Focus on me, on my voice, Hibiki.” Miku whispered, pressing the warm mug against her hands as Miku put hers down on the table so she could wrap the two of them within the blanket.

The blanket chased away the chill on her body, and the hot cocoa gave feeling back into her hands and fingers. But the one in her heart continued to stay, forming a layer of ice even though Miku stayed close. 

“Sorry…” She ended up whispering, knowing that she was being a disappointment.

“Don’t say that.” Still a calm voice, one that reassured Hibiki and slowly chipped the layer that had formed within her heart. “You’ve done this so many times… this is just a repayment.” Miku’s hands snaked around her waist, gently wrapping around it and letting her have extra support.

She took advantage of that, leaning closer and just breathing the clean smell of Miku. The same scent as her own, courtesy of using the same shampoo. The tension on her shoulders loosened, and this was what finally melted the ice. 

“Stay with me, Miku. Don’t leave…” Her hands put away the warm mug; she didn’t need it anymore. Instead she wrapped them around Miku’s body and pulled her closer. Tight and flush against her body until she could feel the beat within Miku’s chest, the constant _thump-thump_ that reassured her further beyond the warmth upon Miku’s body.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…” Miku said continuously, just repeating the same set of words that would grate her ears if it were anyone else.

But slowly, the droning of the words reassured her, and Hibiki found her hold loosening. “Miku, maybe now we can…” But as quick as she said that, she realized that if she asked about Miku’s nightmare now, Miku could turn it back upon her. And the thought of telling her love what her mind had conjured up just moments ago made her shut her mouth. “... Nevermind.” Wordlessly, she pulled her sunshine tighter again, and Miku gave her an understanding look.

 _‘I really don’t deserve her.’_ Even with that thought, she still leaned down and kissed her love on the lips gently, just a brief peck that soothed a part of her. And then she gave another, and another. Love and care mixed together, just as good as the feeling of hot stew within her stomach on a cold day.

“Hibiki…” Miku didn’t let herself lose, kissing her back with the same intensity and gentleness that made her heart flutter. Hibiki let Miku do it, enjoying the spoiling and letting her sunshine’s warmth sweep away any last vestige of frost.

“Love you.” She whispered, her eyes starting to droop down, drowsiness finally reappearing once she felt reassured and full of love. Miku whispered her reply back, and as her eyes closed, Hibiki’s mind pondered slightly on how Miku didn’t seem to be sleepy at all when she awoke from her nightmares….

* * *

_Smoke filled the room, obscuring the occupants’ faces. She was glad for that even as she stood to the side, away from the activities that were happening. People gathered there, both men and women standing around someone, gawking, looking at them with a predatory look within their eyes. Something gnawed at the back of her mind; someone important was there, but she couldn’t comprehend that line of thought. As if her mind had been like a record, skipping through the lyrics when she tried to think. She couldn’t even see who they were, so that didn’t matter._

_Especially when she managed to be over here, not where she usually would be. Beneath them, those people standing on top of her, touching where they wished. Her nose wrinkled as she picked a certain scent, one that made her want to retch, but she didn’t. She held it back. She had to stay silent, unmoving… After all, things would be worse if she twitched. Sounds were fine, but she kept her mouth shut anyway._

_Her head felt fuzzy, filled with static. Thoughts came and went, wondering what she could do. Scolding herself on her inability to do anything because then the punishments would come. The snap of the whip and the flash of pain- and that was if she was lucky. They might do something else if she wasn’t._

_But their sounds, their movements kept going on and on and on. The static became louder in her mind._

_Something needed to be done._

_The buzz was screaming louder, and something within her pushed and pushed-_

“Yukine?”

Chris nearly jumped at the sudden sound, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she looked up, her body tense to... escape? Fight? She wasn’t sure but—

“Yukine.” 

The same voice repeated itself again, and she finally felt the tension flow out of her body as realization on who it was set in. That blue hair, that familiar voice. 

“I apologize for suddenly appearing like this, but you seem to be uncomfortable sleeping like that.” Tsubasa said, a slight frown on her face, a bit of worry within her eyes.

“‘M fine.” Chris muttered reflexively, eyes briefly flicking all around her to ground herself once more. The LED lights shone brightly within S.O.N.G’s corridors, making her blink from its sharpness. Her mind was sluggish for a while, pondering why she wasn’t back in her apartment before she remembered that she had slept on one of the benches strewn around. She was just so tired, the sleepiness overpowering most of her thoughts before she finally let her body’s needs take over. Especially since there had been some time until the time for the meeting. Nightmares and university homeworks were a cruel duo to fight. It seemed that sleeping somewhere else didn’t help to alleviate the bad dreams though.

Yawning, her attention slowly came back towards the silent Tsubasa, and she noted that it wasn’t only worry flickering within those eyes, but traces of tiredness that she couldn’t explain away with Tsubasa’s schedule as an idol. “What about you, Senpai? You don’t seem okay yourself.”

The corner of Tsubasa’s mouth curled down, the furrow between her eyebrows getting a bit deeper. “You don’t need to worry about that, Yukine.” She said stiffly before turning around and started to walk with a fast pace. “We should go to the Command Room now, the meeting’s about to start.”

That was such a blatant attempt to change the topic that she couldn’t help but be surprised at it before narrowing her eyes. Even if the excuse wasn’t wrong, she definitely hadn’t forgotten what happened back in Borneo, and then with this… A flicker of irritation went over her, a part of her wishing she could just stomp forward and tell Tsubasa that she should stop clamming up like this. To just speak up because bottling things never helped.

But that impatience was easily stamped out as Chris shook her head, understanding that doing that would probably push her deeper into hiding. She followed quickly, trying her best to keep up-goddammit, she forgot how their height difference meant Tsubasa has a wider stride, as well as the fact she was still speeding up. ‘ _Couldn’t she be a little considerate for a moment?!’_ She huffed in her mind, but still Chris followed, with only footsteps as their companion.

The corridor passed in a blur, Chris barely managing to arrive moments after Tsubasa had entered the command room. The machines still hummed all around the room, even though the monitors were turned off this time. Looking around, she noticed that everyone was there- except for Tomosato and Fujitaka. That was weird… but more importantly, she also noticed the way Miku and Hibiki seemed to be even closer to one another, their shoulders pressing against one another on one corner, the two lovebirds holding each other, perhaps a bit too tightly. Her two juniors were huddled together in another corner, with Maria hovering with uncertainty near them. 

They all looked tired though. The same as she was, as well as Tsubasa. The idol was just standing there near the entrance. Chris let herself walk over there and stopped next to the bluenette. She was still worried about Tsubasa after all. Elfnein was also looking tired, but with the frustrated look upon her face, Chris doubted that it was rooted in the same cause as the rest of them. She had this certainty in her bones about that. At least Genjuro seemed like he had a better day than all of them.

“Okay, now that everyone’s here...” Genjuro nodded with satisfaction before backing away slightly and gave a thumbs up at Elfnein. “The stage’s all yours, Elfnein-kun.”

That brought everyone’s attention back, including her own. Elfnein breathed for a moment before standing up and spoke. “I’m sure you all are curious why I asked for this meeting.” Not wrong there, although she was glad for a reason to get out of her apartment. “So ever since you all brought back that Complete Relic, I have spent all of my time on it. Checking and trying to see what matches. What I found is… a little concerning, to say the least.”

Chills ran on her spine as she tensed. Silence immediately descended once more into the room, everyone wanting to know what Elfnein would say next, especially since the scientist seemed to bite her lower lip. Uncertain whether to tell them or not.

“Well… right. Let me start from the beginning. From the data I have gathered, we can say that this is the Pandora’s Box.” She said, turning on one of the monitors to pull up the image of the Relic they have brought back. The one Miku nearly shot. “It does look harmless, and it doesn’t seem to react no matter what I did to it. But what is concerning is how… it’s in idle condition right now. It was _active_ recently and yet I can’t figure out what it does.”

An active _Complete_ Relic? Chris could remember the ones they have fought against, including the two she had wielded once, and none of them were ever simple. That made the ornate chest look even more suspicious, especially with how it seemed to do nothing. Because that couldn’t be it. But why did she feel it wasn’t back then…? She frowned, feeling a sense of discrepancy.

“So if you all don’t mind, did something happen recently that seemed to be out of the ordinary…?” Elfnein finally ended, doubt within her tones as she looked at each of them. Trying to see how they would answer.

None of them spoke, immediately glancing at one another instead, and Chris saw Tsubasa’s eyes again. That tiredness. The same one she was sure mirrored in her own. Maybe the others came to the same conclusion, but what they thought didn’t matter. She knew what she had to do. 

“All of us are tired, tiny.” She said, spreading her hands slightly as she looked at each of her friends’ faces and saw the denial that started to form. “Right. Did _any_ of you even get a good sleep last night?” She knew she didn’t, awakening after barely getting a wink and then she was just too wound up to sleep after.

Most of them were silent, even the ones that at first looked like they would open their mouth, whether to protest or to agree she wasn’t sure.

But then Tsubasa stepped forward. “Yukine, it’s not a good look for you to try putting what happened to you on all of us.” The words were measured, calm. As if saying Chris was the one being unreasonable, even if her statement was an observation.

That rankled her. Stepping forward, she glared into Tsubasa’s eyes. They were calm right now, but... “No. You don’t get to say that. You’re bottling up again, aren’t you?” Another step, and something within her _sang_ with how she spat the words. “Just cause your ninja ensures little miss idol here go to bed on time, doesn't mean you slept well! Something's weird so obviously going on and pretending everything's fine is just stupid!” She shouted, her arms thrown to the side while her body was filled with this feeling. This emotion. She liked it.

Even though her words probably were unfair, it definitely did its job of taking Tsubasa out of whatever funk she was in. The idol drew herself taller, the start of anger flickering within those indigo eyes. “You think I’m pretending everything’s fine? You are just seeing what you wish to see, Yukine. After all, you didn’t even know how Noise—”

“ _That’s enough_.” Genjuro said, his voice firm and admonishing. He didn’t even raise his voice, and yet it still shook the whole room.

And that was enough to blow away the haze that had covered her thoughts. Chris blinked, trying to reorient herself before her thoughts finally caught up with what had happened. “Sorry, Senpai.” She said quickly, backing off from where she was standing. She had originally stood there because she was worried and now… and now she regretted it. Why oh why did she speak _that way_?! Even if she wanted to point those out, she could do it with much less barb than she did.

“I-I also apologize, Yukine. I was out of line.” Tsubasa said weakly, and yet loud enough for her to hear. It helped to smooth a part of hers that was still irritated, but right now her heart ached more than anything else.

They stayed apart, Chris drawing back upon herself and Tsubasa doing the same. Their words had just been too much, even if Chris didn’t know where that vitriol came from. She wanted to pull Tsubasa out of her shell, to stop her senior from bottling things up again. But that was really the wrong way.

“Obviously we can’t continue this discussion like this.” Genjuro finally spoke again, his booming words cutting the tense atmosphere they accidentally created. “I’ll let you all off today, but come again tomorrow... Elfnein-kun, you wanted to run a few checks and tests right?” He asked, turning towards the frozen scientist on the side, giving her a slight nod.

“Um, ah! Yes, that is true. Please heed Genjuro-san’s words.” She said, before looking a bit stricken, worry entering her eyes as she looked at the Wielders. “... I hope you all will feel better tomorrow.” She ended with a small voice.

They all looked at one another, not wanting to be the first one to break the silence. Chris herself wished to just go back. Exhaustion filled her bones after that anger she had, and she just wished to get more rest. Maybe she could finally solve that nightmare problem…

“Why don’t we go do, um… karaoke?” Hibiki piped out, waving her arms around excitedly with a grin on her face. Maybe forced, maybe a genuine grin, but Chris found herself smiling a little at the antics.

“Moments of relaxation should do wonders for our morale, dess!” Kirika joined in as well, grinning towards Hibiki and fistbumping her. “You’ll join us too, right everyone?”

“As long as you are there, I’ll join, Kiri-chan.”

She really had no choice. “Well if that’s what my juniors are asking…”

“Then maybe I shouldn—” Chris glared towards Tsubasa before she could even finish her words, and the bluenette immediately gave a nod. “Of course I’ll join.”

Maria and Miku voiced their agreement as well, letting Hibiki to whoop in excitement. “A’ight! Let’s go!”

* * *

They still congregated together, even if splitting themselves up would probably be a better idea. But Tsubasa didn’t think she could focus enough to walk where they needed to be without being herded up like that. Her mind had been too full of that fight they had, and how she had intentionally used those sentences to hurt. To wield her knowledge to strike deep into her kouhai’s heart and wound it. Just so the questioning would stop, so she wouldn’t need to say her own weakness.

Not being able to sleep… Even now she could feel her body demanding her to rest and get a few more hours of slumber. And yet the thought that she would see more of those dreams, to open up and then it would be just like back then. Kanade— 

Tsubasa gritted her teeth. Showing her weak point meant someone else would be able to take advantage and then everyone else would be hurt again. She couldn’t let that happen. She _couldn’t_ . To have what had happened to her other wing happen to them was something she’d die to prevent. So the decision was easy. _‘Don’t open up. Close it from everyone else.’_ But even then, she couldn’t hurt those she was sword to protect. Her blade should only be aimed at those that wanted to hurt all of them.

Yes.

She believed in her strength.

“Tsubasa?”

The slight tug and hesitancy within the voice allowed her to come back to the present, her head turning slightly towards where it came from. “What is it, Maria?” 

Her fellow idol. They had worked together many times, and it was always a delight.

But right now the pinkette’s cyan eyes were darker than usual. Maria’s hand just twirled her long hair, pulling at it slightly while frowning. Her mouth opened a little before she closed it again, the corner of her mouth angling down. Of course, through the whole thing, the two of them were still walking, following the rest of the group while trailing behind them slightly. “What happened back then with Chris…”

Tsubasa found her teeth grinding against one another at that mention. If she wanted to protect them, she shouldn’t have done that. Now the others had something they could use against her if they wanted to— no. They wouldn’t do that. A brief frown came over her face before she refocused back to the present, knowing that she had to answer Maria first. “I know I have to apologize to her.” Even if doing so felt like baring her weakness for someone else to take advantage of, but she felt Chris deserved it. “But… not now.”

“Ah… Right.” Maria nodded, but her face still looked torn. “It’s not about… that fight. Okay, maybe it is. But not in the way you are thinking.” Her words were littered with halts and averted eyes. “... Nevermind. I’m not sure what came over me.” She muttered quickly in the end, immediately walking forward and leaving Tsubasa alone.

All she could do was blink and wonder what happened. Tsubasa definitely didn’t expect Maria to be the type to just do that, considering how forward the pinkette was at times.

_‘—pretending everything's fine is just stupid!’_

Irritation flared again, even though she knew that her kouhai was right. She really had to get a grip. Pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment, she used that slight pain to ground herself.

When she reopened her eyes, she noticed a gap had formed with the group, forcing Tsubasa to increase her pace to catch up. She could slip away of course, but they’d probably worry, and she had agreed after Chris glared at her.

Weaving through the crowd as best as she could, she still managed to keep her focus between herself and her surroundings.

“—gear Red has to be the coolest, no?”

“Eeh? Red? Aren’t they just like that Utazukin anime’s main character or something?”

Her footstep slowed, head swiveling to find the source.

“Well that one is fiction, this one is real sheesh!” Another one chimed in. “But tell us which one’s your favorite! I mean, they all look pretty cool so I get why it’s so hard to pick… Although Blue is nice...”

“I really didn’t follow all of these information newsblog that tell us about them… They all seem fine, no? Saved the world and all.”

That wiped any sense of possibility of them talking about something else.

“Seriously? Come ooooonnnnn, it’s the fact they have saved the world that makes them so interesting!“

“Jeez, okay, okay. Show me your phone—”

“Tsubasa-san? The others told me to grab you since you are loitering around, what are you—” Hibiki’s own voice hitched as she looked at where Tsubasa was looking.

One of them had leaned close to the phone, her eyebrows furrowed. “You know, I could swear that the yellow one looks familiar…”

“C-Come on Tsubasa-san. Everyone else is waiting, haha…” That pulled at Tsubasa’s attention, making her turn towards Hibiki. Hibiki averted her eyes away, shuffling a bit awkwardly while scratching her cheeks.

Not how Tsubasa expected her to act. “Apologies, Tachibana. I got distracted. We should catch up with the others.” She nodded, following behind the brunette. But not before she heard of one last thing.

“Okay, those are interesting observations… Give me the blog’s link? Seems they are pretty good at this, whoever they are.”

“Yep! I swear by them even. Fast and accurate information… And they even dabble in some theorycraft!” Her words were getting indistinct, “Like this one, we know that Silver is Maria, you know, that one famous idol that somehow got entangled with FBI or CIA, whatever, so they have said that Tsubasa has the highest chance to be blue! Well it’s not that confirmed, but still…”

A chill ran through her back, but even as she tried to push it away in favor of thinking, her mind moved in another direction.

Yes, right now they were just theorizing, something harmless to do. But the warm feeling in her chest didn’t feel enough. She could just walk up to them, charm them and confirm that theory and bask within their attention and praise. Because surely they woul—

Tsubasa’s eyes widened as she realized her own line of thoughts.

No.

That would be dangerous.

She shook her head, focusing back onto Hibiki and the activity they would do after this. It should help her relax, and to stop dwelling upon her previous thoughts. After all she would grace her fellow wielders with her voice and song, so that they too would admire the beauty of a perfect blade.


	3. Chapter 3

“Shirabe, we have to do something for Chris-senpai!” Kirika stood in front of her girlfriend, shaking excitedly. Maybe she shouldn’t be as happy as she was right now, but at the same time, a part of her was glad that she could even do something as simple as think of a way to help them. Not just Chris, but also Tsubasa. “Maybe a party will be good…” She mumbled, her mind whirling to think of something that she could do.

“Kiri-chan…” Shirabe’s voice was small, but that was enough to pull Kirika’s attention back to her. Shirabe was still lying down on the comfortable cushion in front of their television, a frown on her face.“Don’t you think they will be able to do it themselves?” 

To be honest, it wasn’t like Shirabe was against Kirika’s plans. It just felt too tiring to think about right now. At least she didn’t need to stand right now, and laying herself down here was a pretty good choice… She moved slightly, getting herself into a better position on the soft surface.

Kirika pouted. “Nooo, we definitely have to help them for sure! You know that, Shirabe!” She pointed dramatically. “Besides, everyone also needs some more cheering up…” The karaoke from yesterday was all good and all, but Kirika could easily see how everyone was still tired.

Tsubasa sang pretty happily yesterday, even if she hogged the mic through the night. Maria didn’t look happy, and in fact, Kirika was sure she was looking at Tsubasa and Chris both... Well, Chris seemed to just be distracted, only singing when pushed to. Both Hibiki and Miku had been very close to one another, seemingly reluctant to let go of each other.

Maybe Shirabe wasn’t wrong, and Kirika could just let those two sort their fight out. Surely they had fought before and were able to solve that without anyone else’s interference? But, but! Kirika didn’t feel like that would be a good idea. Nor did she want to leave them to their own devices. She had to help them. Kneeling down next to Shirabe, she leaned close to her, whispering, “Please…?”

Well, if Kirika really wished to do it... for some reason, people usually thought of Shirabe as the more sensible one, the one that would stop Kirika’s wilder ideas. But whenever Shirabe saw how determined Kirika was. How Kirika would brainstorm and think of the ways to execute her ideas, she wouldn’t stop her. She could never.

She nodded, fighting against her instinct that told her that this would be too much trouble. But the bright way Kirika smiled definitely ensured she didn’t regret her choice. “When are you going to plan it though?” Her eyes slid over to the clock hanging over at the wall. “We are about to be late for the medical check up if we don’t go now…”

“D-Dess?!” Kirika jumped, turned around and looked at the clock with wide eyes. The numbers definitely didn’t lie, showing that it was already 7:45AM. If they didn’t hurry, they would be late for sure. “W-We need to go! We’ll talk more after the check up!”

Tugging Shirabe hurriedly, the two of them ran out of their place, although Shirabe was a bit slower than her more excitable counterpart.

* * *

For a long time, Yua kept herself in the background. Working in SONG was a delightful coincidence, especially after the accident with the Noise. Her heart twinged painfully as she remembered how empty the house was when she got back home… It was such a terrible moment. She felt empty for a long while, the memories of back then feeling muddled and unreal. But then, she found Them when she went through various support networks that existed. Most of those didn’t help her at all. None, except for the Leader that had helped her so much, telling her how her current work could have helped them to stop the Noise once and for all. Especially since SONG handled Relics, the pieces that had a connection with the Custodians and so, would be able to be used against the enemy of humanity. Nothing happened at first, and the Leader told her to be patient. Until finally, the relics found those to wield them, and Yua found that not only could they wield them, they deserve it as well. And now they have also opened the Pandora’s Box, starting the process they need to go through. Yes, she could hardly hold herself back at how excited she was about the future.

Yua would keep a smile on her face no matter which Wielder she faced. Granted, it wasn’t like she had to force herself to do so, but she had to keep herself controlled. She didn’t wish to make any of them uncomfortable, nor did she wish to show them the depth of her feelings. They definitely had no need to see that, considering how beneath them she was. Even so, there were some things that she couldn’t help but let slip. Like when she bought them the snacks they had seen in a magazine and wished to try. Or when their clothes were in need of washing… She just did it for them, doing laundry and then folding them afterwards. Even their rooms in the Headquarters were taken care of by her, cleaned and vacuumed when they weren’t using them. Fortunately for her, those behaviors were put down as her personality quirks, none of them ever thinking that she was just trying her best to prove her devotion to them. If she could do more, she would.

Well, she was merely just Elfnein’s assistant right now, taking the blood while the alchemist checked through the data and feeding it into the machines. Looking at the table, she noted the few vials Elfnein finished examining. The leftmost belonged to Kirika, the Igalima Wielder. Bright girl, easily excited and really close to the one that got dragged in after, Shirabe. They had said they wanted to do something to cheer up Tsubasa and Chris, and that was why they needed to do the check up first… Definitely not something Yua would wish to stop. Of course, it helped that no one else had raised a fuss, and so it was all done quickly.

For a moment, Yua entertained the idea of finding someone to tail them for her, but shook it off. That wouldn’t be a good idea, and besides, she knew SONG kept watch anyway. Sending someone else would just be redundant. After those two, Maria had asked to be checked immediately because she was worried about them. Quite the wholesome interaction, even though the younger pair seemed to be both happy and tense from hearing Maria’s words. Perhaps she needed to revise her files about them…

"I apologize for being so forward, but are you alright, Suzuki? You seem to be... distracted.” Tsubasa’s voice brought her back to the present, the idol’s hand still present on the side where she was drawing the blood from. A glance told Yua that the vial was almost full.

Waiting a moment to let it finish filling, she finally took it out and placed it next to Maria’s. “Ah, it’s alright, Tsubasa-sama.” She said, wishing the idol in front of her wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with the honorifics. After all, that was the least she deserved, and she already compromised on not calling her ‘Kazanari-sama’. Tsubasa had looked incredibly discomfited when she was referred to as such and stiffly asked Yua to stop. However, before she could ask Tsubasa to get the next Wielder to come in, the two of them heard a very loud shout from outside.

“Do that at home!” Chris’s voice thundered through the closed door, and Yua couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh at that.

“Apologies, Tsubasa-sama.” She murmured quickly when the idol looked at her with surprise. Immediately, she stood up and bowed her head down as deep as she could. Her hair cascading on the side of her head as she did so, “It wasn’t my intention to surprise you.”

Tsubasa sounded flustered as she replied back, “You can stand back up, Suzuki. I was merely surprised at that laugh.”

Slowly, she stood back up and gave the idol a small smile. Ah, how much Tsubasa had grown from back when she was still a pair of wings with Kanade… Nonetheless, it would be better if she backed off from this, even though she wanted to show her apologies even more. “Thank you for your consideration, Tsubasa-sama.” She said to end that part of the conversation, before she turned Tsubasa’s attention to something else. She had to make the Adaptors as comfortable as possible. “Can you call Kohinata-sama next as you leave? It’s her turn after yours.”

“Of course, that will not be a problem, Suzuki-san.” Tsubasa nodded as she stood up, relief clear in her voice while she accepted the offered cotton ball. Before Tsubasa turned and left, she paused for a moment, looking at Yua as if she wished to say something. But then she shook her head, calling out for the one Wielder Yua had wished to talk with for a long, long time already.

If the other Wielders deserved the honorifics, then  _ She _ deserved Yua kneeling down before Her. Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen right now. Maybe in the future… But she had to see how things would turn out. Doing her best to stay still, she waited for the door to open. The Vessel… or maybe it would be more correct to call her the Goddess. The Custodian.

“Welcome, Kohinata-sama.” Yua smiled a bit wider, unable to stop herself getting a little giddy that she could be this close to Her. That she would even be able to touch  _ Her _ . Standing up, she carefully helped Her through the various tests they had to do. 

In the middle of one of the procedures, with Yua carefully measuring the waist size, Miku tensed slightly. “Do you need to do all of these…?”

Yua nodded solemnly, “I apologize for the inconvenience, but all of the data is important. We don’t know which one might be what we need, and so it’s better to just do everything for now.” And then to cross reference all the data with that from past check-ups and guessing if the current events also had an effect on them. Yua didn’t envy what Elfnein would have to deal with afterwards, although she would still have to help with the analysis.

Her words definitely had an effect on Miku though, the tension draining away as She awkwardly followed Yua’s direction. “Uhm. Okay.” She managed to say, voice small. Yua definitely noticed that Miku wasn’t looking back towards her eyes.

Ah. She couldn’t really fault Her for that, she had been a bit too over enthusiastic when they met again after the Shem-ha Incident. After all, She was originally merely the girlfriend of the Gungnir Wielder back then, which, while important, wasn’t as important as the Wielders themselves. So when she had come across as overexcited and put Miku off,Yua worried that she ended up blowing her cover. But over the last few months, they managed to get into a more professional relationship, with Yua keeping a tight lid over her excitement.

She wished she could do more though, even as the checkup came to a close. How she wanted to bask in Miku’s presence for just a little while longer… but no matter, she was already the most blessed in their group. 

“Thank you for your cooperation, Kohinata-sama.” She smiled, full of respect and politeness and hoped that one day, the one in front of her would accept that this was the least she could do. Oh how good it would be, to be able to worship… But she scolded herself for those thoughts, because that would just create problems. Both for herself and Miku.

“You are welcome.” The smile upon Miku’s face was polite and distant. A part of Yua so wished that Miku, or the other Wielders, would look upon herself with the same adoration she gave them. But that was wishing for something that would never happen, for she was merely just a lowly soul. She should be glad that she managed to be this close in their presence.

Before She could leave, Yua called out, “Can you please send for Tachibana-sama? She’s the one after you after all.” Ugh, calling Her ‘you’ rankled her slightly. It just felt so impolite. Miku stiffened slightly in surprise, before giving a nod to Yua.

A professional relationship definitely made it easier. She adjusted her glasses slightly, looking towards the notes she had written about the Goddess and the other Wielders before Her. So far, all of these data showed that their physical parameters were in the right range for their age for sure… As she did so, she could hear the sound of the three Wielders talking outside. Not too clearly, but she could feel the camaraderie. She smiled; it was obvious they were really close.

It took a while, but the door to the check-up room finally opened, with Hibiki still looking to the side, “Okay, Miku! I’ll finish the checkup really soon.” The Gungnir Wielder let out a smile, squeezing her beloved’s hand before turning slightly to the one behind her. “Keep her safe, Chris-chan!”

“You don’t need to tell me, idiot!” The fierce sound of Chris replying could be heard immediately. “Now go in immediately so you can come back as early as you can.”

“Hehe, thanks.”

These interactions were as pleasant as usual, even as Yua kept her face carefully neutral. She couldn’t show how happy she was to have seen this. The Wielders were really good people. They deserve all the good things to happen to them.  _ ‘But what happened to them back then...’ _ A slight frown appeared on her face as she thought of what had happened to the Wielders, those painful events that happened one after another.

“Yua-san? Are you okay?” Hibiki’s voice brought her back to the present, making her start slightly at how close the Wielder was.

Ah. She couldn’t drown in her thoughts. That would be bad. “I’m alright, Tachibana-sama. Let’s start the check up, shall we?” She would finish her job first, then… then she had to do her report to the Leader.

* * *

Chris sat back down heavily on the plush seats, all the while staring at Miku. She could focus on Hibiki’s girlfriend at this moment, thankful that Tsubasa had left the vicinity. Things were still awkward between them, but that was fine, she was sure. Right now, Miku’s the important one. The one that seemed to be restless, those green eyes looking towards the closed medical door over and over again.

Well, she had promised that idiot after all… “Are you okay? You…” She bit down the rest of the words, uncertain if she should voice them. But she could see the stress lines on Miku’s face, as if she couldn’t bear to be separated for too long from Hibiki. “She’ll come back soon; everyone else finishes their test fast enough.” She tried to reassure, feeling very awkward and out of place. Usually she wasn’t the one that would try to soothe someone else after all.

Her words at least seemed to bring Miku to focus on her. Looking at her with those endless greens that made her throat dry. “Yes, things are okay now.” Miku smiled, and it sent shivers down her spine. “I don’t get nightmares anymore. Hibiki’s more important right now…” And those expanses of emerald looked away, and Chris could breathe again.

Right. She forgot that Miku could be like this as well. As stubborn as that dummy, sometimes. Both of them love to shut their mouth, not saying anything to one another. Merely worried and fretted until things escalated. “Hibiki will be fine. She’s strong.” She started off, because that was the core of the problem right now. If she couldn’t get Miku to talk about herself, then she better try to change her angle and instead touched the parts that Miku wanted to focus on. “You know how she is… Even through everything, she’ll continue saying that everything’s fine. And then she’ll ensure that it’ll be fine. Besides, it’s merely a medical check up. Nothing will go wrong there.” She was sure that Yua would be helpful too. That woman had been helping them for as long as Chris remembered, and she always did her best. In fact, Chris was certain that it was harder to stop Yua from continuing to help than to ask for her help…

Miku’s body stiffened, her hands clenching tightly as she glared harder towards the medbay. “But what if she’s putting her hands on Hibiki?” Her tone was harsh and rough, as if she was barely holding herself back.

“That’s—” Chris couldn’t say of course not. Because during a checkup, of course they would be touched. She herself hated it, but she knew that was one thing she just had to bear. “That medical lady always keeps herself in the appropriate distance.” And Chris was glad for that.

But Miku didn’t seem to agree, if the way she looked at Chris was any answer. Standing up, she went closer, her footstep wasn’t loud and yet there was something about it that sent Chris’s heart thumping heavily. “No, Chris. You don’t understand.” She whispered, being so, so close.

The part of Chris that wanted to get angry fizzled away as she backed off, sweat gathering within her palm as her breath too, starting to get rough. She wanted to squeak out for Miku to stay off. To keep away—

“Miku?” Hibiki’s voice broke through the panicky feeling that still continued to press upon Chris. Especially since that made Miku back off, looking towards Hibiki and allowing Chris to see the way a storm seemed to appear upon the usually friendly face. “Why are you so close to Chris-chan?” She seemingly didn’t even pay any attention towards Chris anymore, something she was glad for at this moment.

Quickly, even without being told, Chris stood up and walked into the room— leaving those two alone. She… didn’t know what exactly just happened. But she knew that blared another warning sign upon her mind. Staying away at least helped to stave off the pressure upon her though, exchanged with anger stirring at the edge of her mind.

No, she couldn’t do that right now. Just… focus upon Yua, the one that would help her for the medical check up. The older lady smiled kindly at her as Chris closed the door behind, her mind pushing away what had happened.

* * *

Talk buzzed around her as Maria walked, just letting her body follow behind both Kirika and Shirabe. She knew she should pay attention towards their conversation, considering the whole reason she had hurried out of Headquarters was to talk and help them with their plans. But as she listened to the names of “Tsubasa-san” and “Chris-senpai” being thrown around, she couldn’t help but remember the fight the two had.

She knew at that moment, those two had spared no thoughts to anyone else. Of course, the fight was over quickly, but even in that little moment, she felt as if those two were flirting with one another. Why wouldn’t Tsubasa flirt with her like that? They’ve fought before, so what made Chris so special? And both she and Chris could fight even better than they could!

“Let’s just go back, Shirabe.” She could hear Kirika’s whisper, a little hushed as if she didn’t want anyone else to listen. Not like it would be easy, considering the bustling crowd. It might still be pretty early in the day, but people had started to be out and about. Getting breakfast and the like. Some even looked at the fliers plastered upon the electric poles, political candidates, religions, support groups for victims of supernatural disasters. One group; The Hushed, founded for Noise victims, was especially prevalent. “It’ll be easier to plan there! Besides, I’m a bit hungry, dess… Eating outside is always so expensive.”

Maria reeled at the words. The jealous thoughts from before forgotten, she immediately strode forward and interjected. “Let’s eat together in uh—” She looked around at the unfamiliar street and restaurants she never went to. But not all of them were open, and most of them were cafes. While she didn’t mind them, she didn’t think there would be enough food. Finally, her attention was pulled to one of them, sandwiched between two different cafes. “—How about over there?” She pointed at it. The place had walled plants outside, obscuring most of the inside while still allowing them to see the lines of sofa and tables within.

Both Kirika and Shirabe looked at one another, frowning and nodding at one another before looking at her apologetically. “The total price will come cheaper if we buy groceries instead,” Shirabe said, her hand clasped in Kirika’s own.

Oh. She couldn’t disagree with that, the thought of paying the restaurant price compared to how much it would be if they just buy... But no. Maria shook her head and slowly smiled at them. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I have enough to pay for all of us.” She reassured them, knowing that paying for their food was merely a low price to pay for their attention upon her. After all, she also had quite the nest egg, considering the amount she had gotten from her foray in the idol world. Then that agreement with the government for a while… and finally, being part of SONG.

A twinge of pain went through her heart when she saw the way Kirika and Shirabe both thought about it, not immediately saying yes. But they still agreed. A small nod, but an agreement nonetheless.

The tight feeling within her chest loosened as they headed into the cafe. The waitress was helpful, guiding them to one of the empty seats and asked if they wished to order immediately or wait for later. More glances between one another, but they all immediately ordered.

“I’ll take one hamburg steak! Wait… two! My stomach is hungry enough for more.” Kirika exclaimed excitedly before turning right towards Shirabe, “What about you, Shirabe?”

Blinking, Shirabe thought over it for a second before she pointed towards omurice. “I’ll take this.”

“And I’ll be picking curry, thank you.” Maria confirmed the last order, smiling as she listened for the recitation and the waitress left once the menus were all collected.

For a moment, Maria was able to focus back the two she thought of as her charges. To listen as they talked about their plans on what they should do.

“A party… we can cook and then all of us can have fun…” Kirika started off, an uncommonly serious look upon her face. “Nono, that will be too much like their birthday…”

Them. It was obvious that Kirika was referring to both Tsubasa and Chris. Why were they so focused on them? Of course, those two fought for a moment, but they were adults and surely they didn’t need any help to fix that little conflict. Besides, shouldn’t Kirika and Shirabe focus upon herself? The one that had been there for them back then, at the White Orphanage? The one that sacrificed so much for them so they could go to school without any problems?

Even the food’s arrival didn’t help move her thoughts in a better direction. Both Kirika and Shirabe had started eating as they thought over their plans, but Maria couldn’t help but pick at her food. The food felt tasteless in her mouth, and all that did was sour her already bitter feelings. Where was her thanks for giving them this food? To pay for them without asking much except for their attention?

“Maybe just the cooking food part? But if it’s us making them that won’t make sense. We already did karaoke yesterday night… mmrgh…” Kirika scrunched her face as she tried to think and find out what they could do in this matter. “Maria? Do you have any ideas?”

The sound of her name pushed her out of her thoughts, and Maria blinked awake. It felt as if she had just burst out of a mire, her head long been pushed under the swamp. What had she been thinking? She did all of those things because she loved them. Guilt immediately burst within her heart, Maria feeling like she was the worst. But she had to reply to Kirika for now, especially since she wasn’t certain what Kirika had said.

“We could perhaps do an outing?” She offered, and from the way the disappointment showed palpably on Kirika’s face, the way the Igalima Wielder wilted, Maria knew she made a mistake.

Yet before she could say anything, Shirabe spoke up, having let Kirika do the talking until now. “Maria… Are you okay?” She asked, not raising her voice but she didn’t need to. That single sentence was enough to make Maria’s heart ache.

“I…” She started, the guilty feeling from before resurging as she remembered the thoughts she had. Those awful thoughts about her two wonderful charges. And yet they were still worried about her. “I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.” She smiled at them, trying to convince them that she was truly alright.

Even though it felt like forever, since her mind felt clear and normal like this. How many hours had it been since she was last able to focus on just one thing, and not about what someone else had and yet she didn’t have? As she considered that, her mind seized upon that chance, reminding her how much of what she had was owned by others first. The Airgetlám. The idol partnership with Tsubasa. Or just how weak she was, compared to everyone else.

… She did it again. Scolding herself inwardly, she stilled as Kirika too, spoke in concern. “Maria, you are really spaced out… Maybe you should go back first.”

Maria felt like she didn’t deserve these two sometimes. But for now… she gave them a smile just to reassure them again. “I’m really okay, believe it or not.” She loosened her fists, one of her hands reaching over the table to clasp hold onto theirs. “There’s just… some things that keep coming onto my mind. But for now, let’s help you two, shall we?”

Kirika looked like she wanted to say something, while Shirabe seemed to still be doubtful. But even so, Kirika nodded, and even through the misgivings, Shirabe seemed to let it go. The three of them talked through, and this time, Maria found herself managing to focus enough and giving her own suggestions on how to make Tsubasa and Chris make up.

* * *

Looking at the time, Yua stretched her body slightly. It was awfully late and she just finished typing out the report right on time for the meeting. She paused for a moment as she thought about the two she would meet again soon. Scales, she knew his expertise is what the Leader needed, but that didn’t mean she liked him at all. He always rubbed her the wrong way, and the insouciant attitude he didn’t towards the Adaptors… She sighed. At least the Leader understood her. That all she wished was to ensure the Adaptors’ happiness.

Well, nothing else to do for now. She waited for a moment as the clock ticked over to the meeting time, and before too long, the call she had been waiting for arrived. Accepting it, the other two’s faces were once more in front of her.

“How did the test go, Yua?” The Leader gave her a smile, still as patient as ever. Honestly, Yua always suspected that he was older than his middle-aged appearance suggested, but he never gave any hints as to how old he truly was. Well, not like it mattered too much. He was the one who had given her a lifeline after all. Showing her the truth…

She quickly started to recite back the data that had been compiled painstakingly by Elfnein, without a shred of guilt. “What differences they have can be attributed to natural growth. Only Maria-sama is even near human peak years. However…” She paused for a moment, trying to think of a good way to explain what she had noticed. But this felt important enough to be shared. “There're other changes which can’t be explained by that. Their physical bodies have become far healthier, even though they seem to be tired and stressed, although none of the physical indicators of stress have appeared at all." How she wished she could help them in this matter.

“Heh, lucky for them, then. Come on, they are having a good time now, no? Finishing high school after saving the world?”

Clenching her fists tightly at Scales's dismissive words, Yua glared at him through the camera. She still didn't get why Leader wished for him to be around, especially as it seemed he had no love for the Adaptors. “I still have some more to report on, if you will.” She growled, narrowing her eyes.

“Go on then, Yua.” The man rolled his eyes, deliberately calling her name without any honorifics. He knew her preferences, even as a foreigner and the fact she was older from him by a decade or so. And yet… Yua forced herself to gulp down the anger. Focus on her report. The Leader needed it, and it would be better for the Adaptors as well.

“Scales, you know better than that.” The Leader scolded him, which at least allowed Yua to feel satisfaction as his face soured. “Please go on, Yua. You have observed something important, right?”

The same no honorifics, and yet Yua didn't mind it. From him, it felt fatherly. Trusting. “Right. I want to preface this by saying that this is purely from my own observation.” Breathing a bit deeper, she continued on. “They are acting a little… different. Not as tight knit as they were before, and seemed to split into groups. Although those within the groups were becoming even closer than before, at least. But even Tsubasa-sama and Yukine-sama are fighting right now. I hope they’ll make up soon.” She couldn’t help but let the last part slip out, because she genuinely wished all of them were together.

The Leader closed his eyes, nodding in understanding over her report. “I see… thank you for your information, Yua. You did good.” Inside, Yua preened at the praise. She had to hold herself from shooting a smug look at Scales and only just succeeded. “Those changes are a positive response to what we have done, but… it seems we have to do something more. Something that can push them to realize they can be something even grander.”

That seemed to energize Scales, who had been looking increasingly bored as Yua said her piece. But that last sentence the Leader had said made him jerk up, a dangerous glint in his eyes that Yua definitely didn’t like. A wide grin spread on his face as he leaned forward, “Sir Lambert. If that’s what you wish for, I believe I have a very good idea…”

… As Yua listened to it, her spirits fell, but she couldn’t help but agree that the idea seemed to be what they needed to do.

_ ‘I plead mercy for this sin I'll commit. But for Your sake, I must spread this blasphemy and act in sacrilege. For this, I may not be forgiven, I may not even know a peaceful death. I may only implore that You may feel my devotion, for everything I'm doing is for Your name.’ _


End file.
